Two of my all-time favorite training buddies had INCREDIBLE races the past two weekends.

First, Drew finished his second consecutive Norseman Xtreme Triathlon! What’s Norseman? Only the most difficult Ironman distance race on the planet! As if 140.6 miles isn’t already hard!

Drew looking very excited about the Norseman swim course!

Drew swam through an icy cold fjord, rode over mountain passes, and ran a ridiculous uphill marathon to finish in the top 50 and win one of the coveted black t-shirts. So crazy it’s awesome!

Back stateside, my superstar teammate Micki finished the inaugural Ironman New York City. But Micki didn’t just race, she also raised more than $36,000 for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in honor of our friend Betty who was diagnosed with the disease. And that’s not even the best part! Check out Micki’s finish line photo!

Meanwhile, I was busy celebrating here in Atlanta! One of my best friends from college, Melissa, is getting married!!! Mel and her fiance Willy actually met 12 years ago when they were both high school swimmers at Dynamo Swim Club – how cool is that?

Melissa! All-American swimmer, rock climber, yogi, & soon-to-be Bride!

When I first found out Mel’s bachelorette party would kick off with an aerial dance class I was REALLY nervous! I’m not exactly the world’s best dancer – even when I manage to keep both feet on the ground!

Sky Dancers! Kristin, Kelley, Me, Mel, Erika, Kelley, Elizabeth

We started out with some poses close to the ground, and before we knew it, we were all hanging upside down!

Elizabeth showing us all how it's done!

And just when we were getting comfortable being six inches off the ground, the instructors decided we should try our poses a little higher. While hanging from another person. SERIOUSLY? WTF?!

Mel was by far the best aerial dancer of the group. I was the best at just hanging there. But we all had fun and now I’m more excited than ever for the wedding!!!

Who agrees Kelley should perform at the wedding?! YES!!

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Guess what folks?! I got a new BIKE!!

That’s right! And not just any bike – a Limited Edition Black on Black Blue Triad SL. In a word, SICKKK!

And lucky me, I got to take it out for a spin in the mountains last weekend. I think the look on my face says it all!

I honestly didn’t think a bike could ride better than my 2009 Triad. I was (and still am) so in love with my old bike. But after just minutes on the SL I noticed a difference. Those pesky little bumps in the road? Gone! The shock absorption on the SL is unreal and I’ve never felt so comfortable descending. And it’s GORGEOUS!!!

Blue Competition Cycles is an Atlanta based Company with a world-wide reach. Most recently, Estonia’s Marko Albert, Canada’s Heather Wurtele, and America’s own Amanda Stevens have ridden Blue to the top of pro triathlete podiums across the globe. That’s the kind of company I like to keep!

AND if a new bike wasn’t enough, I get to race it even sooner than expected! Thanks to some favorable wait-list action, I’ll be on the start line at the USAT Age Group National Championship in Burlington, Vermont on August 18th! Nothing like a little Olympic distance tri tune-up to get me ready for Vegas and Hawaii! I am psyched!

HUGE thanks to the good people at Blue, especially Chance, Daniel and Neil. I know it’s not easy to build a mongoose sized bike! And thanks to Coach Maria for convincing me every new bike deserves a trip up Hogpen! The climb’s never felt better and I can’t wait for many more fun rides to come!

It's official - Maria has never met a mountain she didn't like! #GOGREEN #RIDEBLUE

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What do you get when you combine six swimming friends, one boat, 60 degree water, and a giant lake? A crazy good time!

Erica, Dori, Shelly, Betty, Beth and I ready for the start!

My Trans Tahoe Relay team was the very appropriately named Dynamo Superstars. Dori, Shelly, Betty, Beth and I all live in Atlanta where we manage to swim a few laps in between long chats on the wall at Dynamo Masters swim workouts. These ladies are not only crazy fast swimmers, they’re also super smart, successful, and all-around awesome people. That’s quite the combo for a single pool lane!

Erica grew up swimming with Shelly and now calls Michigan home. I was a little skeptical about having someone new on our team, but a quick look at Erica’s website put me at ease. I figured anyone who’d swum across the Yangtze River and around Manhattan had to be cool – and she fit in even better than expected!

View from the boat - gorgeous sunrise as we waited for the start

The race started early Saturday morning at Sand Harbor Beach on the Northeast side of the lake. The plan was to have each of us swim one 30 minute leg, followed by a 15 minute leg, until we crossed the finish line 10 miles across the lake at Dollar Point. We quickly learned driving a rented boat in a straight line across a wide open lake is much harder than it looks! As is swimming across a lake with no buoys!

But with such gorgeous scenery, and the most perfect weather ever, a few detours weren’t necessarily a bad thing! Erica got us off to a great start and before long we had a big gap on most of the other boats. I appreciated the lead!

At first I was a bit turned around – I think I forgot how to sight – but I somehow managed to pull my act together and make some forward progress. I didn’t think the water was cold at all – it actually felt really refreshing! And it was so clear, the only things I saw were sunbeams diappearing into the depths.

Once my 30 minutes were up, Shelly took off, and by the time she handed off to Dori, there was no looking back!

The hand off! Shelly tagging Dori

Beth is actually six months pregnant, and don’t tell the race director, but I think having a seventh person on our team may have been a bit of an advantage! And I’ve never seen anyone’s arms move as fast as Betty’s did when she hit the 60 degree water.

Shelly & Dori cheering from the boat while Betty swims in the background!

Before we knew it, the finish line was in sight! Dori crossed the line for us, stopping the clock with a total time of 3 hours and 54 minutes. According to the official results, this landed us 12th overall and 2nd for all-womens’ teams. Not a bad day at the races!

Superstar boat captains Beth & Betty at the finish!

I had the BEST time racing across Lake Tahoe with these ladies. Racing in beautiful places with beautiful people sure makes me appreciate the multisport lifestyle. And I have a feeling we might be back – gunning for the win next time, of course!

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Hello race fans! My co-worker, Reuben, made an excellent observation the other day. It’s the second part of 2012, and yet HaleyChura.com is missing a 2012 Part 2 Race Plans map!!

Well, fear not, Reuben, below are the dates that I will be racing during the second half of 2012! Mark your calendar and plan some happy hours, because with me out of town, you might actually be able to get some work done!

I’m kicking off the second half of 2012 this weekend with some open water swimming action! My awesome friends Shelly, Dori, Betty, Beth, Erica and I will be taking on the chilly waters of Lake Tahoe for the Trans Tahoe Relay!

Dori, Beth, Shelly, Me, Betty (missing Erica; she was probably busy swimming across the ocean)

I’ve never actually been to Lake Tahoe, but I’ve heard it’s gorgeous and I can’t wait to check it out! PLUS next week is my birthday and I can’t think of a better way to ring in 27 than by swimming across the Nevada-California border with some of my favorite people of all time!

Stay tuned for lots of fast racing and hopefully some colorful blog commentary as I get ready for championship race season and the second half of 2012! Yee haw!

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